Online Course Image

Man’s life saved by Florida lifeguards after cardiac arrest

In 2015, the then 40 year old Jacksonville Beach resident, J.R. Bourne went in cardiac arrest.

He was playing soccer with his friend Luis when he suddenly collapsed and stopped breathing.

While a bystander began CPR, and someone called 911, the Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue truck were nearby.

“We were driving down the beach at 10 a.m., putting our lifeguards out on towers, when we heard screams for help,” said lifeguard Gordon VanDusen, one of the first responders. The lifeguards are certified in CPR and AED, and had just completed refresher training.

The lifeguards soon took over and using the AED shocked Bournes heart back to a normal rhythm. The lifeguards continued CPR until an ambulance arrived.

More than 350,000 people in the U.S. experience a cardiac arrest outside of a hospital each year. Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart’s electrical system malfunctions, causing the heart to abruptly stop. Unless CPR is performed and an AED is used to shock the heart, death can occur within minutes.

Cardiac arrest victims who received a shock from a publicly-available AED had far greater chances of survival and being discharged from the hospital than those who did not; 66.5% versus 43%.2

Cardiac arrest victims who received a shock from a publicly-available AED that was administered by a bystander had 2.62 times higher odds of survival to hospital discharge and 2.73 times more favorable outcomes for functioning compared to victims who first received an AED shock after emergency responders arrived.3

Victims who received an AED shock from a bystander (57.1%) using a publicly-available device instead of having to wait for emergency responders (32.7%) had near normal function and better outcomes.4

Without a bystander using AED shock therapy, 70% of cardiac arrest patients either died or survived with impaired brain function.5